morning sirens and random kicks against tent
tourists shuffling through Bloombergville
shapeless figures in sleeping-bags sprawled in Manhattan flowerbeds
smile at the trees
leaves, autumn
city noises
get coffee from kitchen, eat hardened bagel with peanut butter
open People’s Library
get interviewed by Czech TV
shelve newly donated books, catalogued and stamped by Librarian Comrades
talk to grade five class about egalitarian economics
get interviewed by NY1
go to storage and open boxes from publisher
share excitement with fellow librarians
order lunch from kitchen via text
mic check over lower Manhattan cacophony
introduce famous author who addresses the forgathered crowd
eat lunch while listening
go on Internet and thank publisher for donation (ask for more books)
go to facilitation meeting on Wall Street. (read Semiotext(e) volume in route)
listen to fellow occupiers
talk with Direct Action
return to OWS and attend General Assembly
help get $7000.00 for Occupy Edmonton
eat cold supper that somehow apparates in hand
answer questions about library
talk with Sustainability about solar power
talk with MIT geniuses who are building bicycle powered batteries
visit the tree of life
reflect
facilitate Poetry Assembly
go to Tomato Cafe for coffee and toilet
tidy up Library
think about going to bed
watch NYPD erect flood lights over Liberty Plaza
see riot cops and media form up by hundreds
hear White-shirts shout nonsense into bullhorns
prepare for raid
write phone number for legal aid on your forearm with Sharpie
hug people
debate outcome
consider possibility of being deported from USA
gather what important books you see
overturn Library stacks
hang head and sulk passed waves of police
weep for friends remaining at Occupation
threatening truncheons move you away from Plaza
cameras can not record brutality within Occupation
stash books in friendly apartment
return to streets
help people who have been pepper sprayed
create art in the spirit of the Situationists
watch livestream of friends soft-locking Occupation
watch garbage trucks haul away your home, your life, 3500 books
sunrise
march to site of new Occupation
hear interfaith speakers of Solidarity
watch as fellow occupiers get arrested
return to Liberty Plaza
clutch The Coming Insurrection
march
prepare
Occupy mind
Occupy thought
Occupy Life

10 responses to “Life in the Big City”

God is alive…..Magic is afoot…God is alive….magic is afoot…
God is afoot…..Magic is alive…Alive is afoot..magic never died!

God never sickened. Many poor men lied. Many sick men lied.
Magic never weakened. Magic never hid. Magic always ruled. God is afoot.
God never died!

God was Ruler, though his funeral lengthened.
Though His mourners thickened, magic never fled.
Though His shrouds were hoisted the naked God did live;
Though His words were twisted the naked magic thrived;
Though His death was published round and round the world
The heart did not believe.

Many hurt men wondered. Many struck men bled.
Magic never faltered. Magic always led.
Many stones were rolled, but God would not lie down!
Many wild men lied.
Many fat men listened.
Though they offered stones, magic still was fed!
Though they locked their coffers, God was always served.

Magic is afoot….God is alive….
Alive is afoot….Alive is in command.

Many weak men hungered.
Many strong men thrived.
Though they boasted solitude, God was at their side.
Nor the dreamer in his cell, nor the captain on the hill:
Magic is alive!
Though His death was pardoned ’round and ’round the world,
The heart would not believe!

Though laws were carved in marble they could not shelter men;
Though altars built in Parliaments, they could not order men;
Police arrested magic and magic went with them, ah!
For magic loves the hungry….

But magic would not tarry, it moves from arm to arm,
It would not stay with them; it cannot come to harm:
Magic is afoot! It cannot come to harm.
It rests in an empty palm. It spawns in an empty mind.
But magic is no instrument: magic is the End!

Many men drove magic, but magic stayed behind; Many strong men lied.
They only passed thru magic and out the other side!
Many weak men lied.
They came to God in secret and though they left Him nourished,
They would not tell Who healed;
Though mountains danced before them, they said that God was dead!
Though His shrouds were hoisted, the naked God did live!

God is alive! Magic is afoot…God is alive… God is alive…
Magic is afoot…

This I mean to whisper to my mind:
This I mean to laugh with in my mind:
This I mean my mind to serve
‘Til service is but magic, moving thru the world
And mind itself is magic, coursing thru the flesh
And flesh itself is magic, dancing on a clock,
And Time itself, the magic length of God!

God is alive…Magic is afoot…Magic is afoot…God is alive..
Magic is alive…God is afoot…Alive is afoot…God never died.
Many strong men lied.
They only passed thru magic and out the other side!
This I mean to whisper to my mind:
This I mean to laugh with in my mind:
This I mean my mind to serve
‘Til service is but magic, moving thru the world
And mind itself is magic, coursing thru the flesh
And flesh itself is magic, dancing on a clock,
And Time itself, the magic length of God!

Would like to link up with librarians in other cities who are sympathetic. I am not sure how, but willing to communicate if we can find a way. Please answer here. Perhaps OWS may have a way for us to connect. Anyone interested?